A wind farm typically includes a plurality of wind turbines and a power plant controller (PPC). Data is communicated among the wind turbines and the PPC via a monitoring and control network. The PPC may also send control signals for controlling the operation of the wind turbines via the network.
The data circulating in the network includes data from various sensors in the wind turbines such as grid voltage, gearbox vibration levels, ambient temperature, wind speed, etc. Such sensor data are typically processed to form meaningful information and the processed data is used to control the operation of the wind turbines to produce optimal power output or to keep loads within an acceptable level.
The processing of data requires computing resources. Such computing resources are provided in the wind farm by the PPC and/or the controllers in each wind turbine. Due to the large amount of data to be processed and also the importance of prompt processing of time-critical data for control of the turbines, the computing resources in the wind farm are very valuable.
At any time, not all the wind turbines in the wind farm are operating. For example, some of the wind turbines may be shut down for maintenance. In this case, the computer resources of the turbines may not be utilized by the wind farm, and hence wasted.